Helicopter



Mafch 15, 1932. K BBE 1,849,235

HELICOPTER Filed Sept. 23, 1950 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR C. Kc'blre ATTORNEY C. KIBBE HELICOPTER Filed Sept. 25. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m n e M v x 0 M Q k a S 5 mm 3 2 mm km -Nm Q Q 2 2 .3. Nm m mm m a i w? Patented Mar. 15, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT-'- OFFICE CLIFFORD KIBIBE, OF TRACY, CALIFORNIA. HELICGPTER Application filed September 23, 1930. Serial No. 483,803.

This invention relates to flying machines of the helicopter or vertical ascending and descending type. J

The major object of my invention is to provide what I believe to be a novel mounting and driving arrangement for the supporting wings or propellers of the helicopter, so that there is no tendency for the fuselage or car of the helicopter to rotate and which also avoids complicated connections between the propellers and the power plant.

Another object is to provide anovel arrangement for controlling the direction of flight, both horizontally and'vertically, of the helicopter, so as to normally offer a minimum of resistance to the various air currents set up with the vertical or horizontal movement of the airplane.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of ref-' erence indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a side view of my improved helicopter as in position when on the ground.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the helicopter propellers and their drivin means.

ig. 3 is a fragmentary section showing the control means for the engine throttle or similar adjustable part.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of thedirection control structure of the helicopter.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the body structure ofthe hellcopter showing the direction controlling shutters and their supporting F frame. I Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the numeral 1 denotes the cabinv or bodyof the helicopter which is supported from the ground'by front and rear caster type wheels 2 in such a manner that the body has a considerable upward slope toward its forward end when the wheels engage the ground. Rigidly secured to and projecting upwardly fromthe top of the body is a stiff tubular post if) WlllCh is disposed at an angle to-the body '5 in a longitudinal plane so that the post is vertical when the wheels are on the ground. Turnably and independently mounted on the post in vertically spaced relation to each other are upper and lower supporting wings so 4-. and 5 respectively. These wings are formed as large propellers having two or more blades, the pitch of the blades of the two pro- 'pellers being arranged so that they will exert a vertical lifting effect on the airplane 66 even though they areturning in opposite directions as they are intended to do in order to give a balanced action. The propellers being large are preferably hollow built-up structures, having skeleton frames of suit- 7 able design covered by sheeting of fabric or other material. These propellers are mounted on annular and thrust bearings 6 of the' ball or other anti-friction type, so that they will turn freely about the post.

Mounted on the lower propeller in dia- .metrally opposed relation to each other are power plants 7 which are preferably gas engines. The engines may be partly depressed in the interior of the propeller blades, but 1n any event are arranged so that their drive shafts 8 project above the top surface of the lower propeller; The said engines are disposed so that their drive shafts are radial relative to the post, and each carries a bevel pinion 9 on its outer end which engages a bevel gear 10 secured to the under surface of the upper propeller concentric with the post. The shaftsS preferably have overrunning clutches therein conventionally shown at 11, besides the ordinary clutches which they may have. Such overrunning clutches take care of possible variations in the speed of the two engines, which are both connected to the one gear, without any harm- 96 111 effects bein possibly had.

By means '0 the above described driving arrangement, the upper propeller will'be p0 itively driven in one direction, whilethe feiction of the driving pinions causes the 100 tower propeller to rotate in the opposite directionan of course at the same speed.

Thefengines being mounted in the rotatable I propeller rather than in the body itself, as

is usually the case, there is no tendency for the reactionary, force of the engines to tend to rotate the body.

of the lower propel er, and engaged by a ring 13 .which is turnable therein. This ring is engaged by crank 14 which the fork on one end of a bellis disposed within the lower propeller and is pivoted on one of the frame members thereof. The other end of the bellcrank is connected by a rod 15 or the like, with the throttle arm of the engine. Sliding the collar up and down the post therefore causes the throttle arm to be moved from one position to another regardless of the rotation of the rin relativeto the collar. The collar cient to enable is thus shd by means of a cross bar 17 extending across and connected to the collar and movable 'in-vertical opposed slots 18 in the'post. A rod 19 engages and dependsfrom said-bar to a point inside the body 1 at which end it is connected to an operating arm or lever, as indicated at 20. The distance between the to and bottom bearings of the propeller and t e diameter of the post are su-fiithe necessary movement of separate collars and'associated control memhere to be mounted, as may be required.

While I have described the engines as being mounted on the lower propeller only, in more werful models additional engines may also andgunder the propellers and jectinglssomedistaneebe on mounted on course appropriate gearing on other drive connections. Anormally horizontal frame 21 is fixed in :-connecti0n with the body on top 'of the same is arranged so portions 21 prothe correspondof the body an side rtions 22 prooutwardlyof the si es of the body. ese frame portions 21 and 22 surround orform substantially rectangular openings 21a and 220 respectively. Pivoted on the frame portions 21 on axes e nding longitudinally of the airplane are front and rear pairs of shutters 23.and shutters are displop? in the correspondin openings of the e, and their area is cient to substam tiallycover the openings when theshu'tters that it "has front and rear the upper propeller,- w1tli' of nions 25 of the shutters are disposed toward their opposite or outer sides and horns 26 project radially from the trunnions. The horns of the rear shutters are connected by cables 27 to a common cable 28 which in turn is connected with the lower endof a control stick 29-. This stick is mounted in the pilots compartment of the body for universal swivel movement as usual. The. horns of the front pair of shutters are also connected are horizontal or closed. The pivotal trun- I to the stick by a cable 30' extending for? Y wardly from the lower end from which branch cables 31 extend to said horns. Since the stick is on a different level from the shutters the various cables pass over suitably arranged direction changing pulleys P, and it is to be understood that the showing of the cables and the arrangement of the pulleys in Fig. 4 is diagrammatic only for without any attempt hav-' the sake of clarity, ing been made to show the stick or the cables in their actual relationship to the shutters.

The pairs of shutters and the control cables are arranged so that when the front shutters are both fully closed '(or horizontal) the rear shutters are both fully open (or-vertical) and viceversa; both pairs of shutters being normally open when the helicopter is in forward flight.

Simultaneous movement ofeither pair of of the stick and these shutters by the manipulation of the stick without affecting the other pair controls the up and down tiltin or steering of the airplane in a longitudina vertical plane.

Steering of the airplane to the right'or left in a horizontal direction is also accomplished by the shutters by additional control means applied thereto as follows:

Mounted in the'pilots compartment of the body in proximity to but se arate from the stick is a transversely exten g foot-bar 32 which is pivoted centrally between its ends on a vertlcal axisi Cables 33extend rearwardly'from pivot to connections with the cables 27 of the rear shutters-24 but in crossin relation; or

so'that the cable attached to t e right-hand side of the foot-bar is connected to the cable of the left-hand shutter, and vice versa.

Similarly cables 34 extend forwardly from the bar on opposite sides of its ivot,-and are connected to the cables 31 of t e front shutters' 23 in crossing relation. By means of this arrangement it 'be seen that, the movement of the foot-bar in one longitudinal direction or-the other causes one of the rear shutters to be partiallyjclosed (or to an an le of degrees) and the front shutter on t e opposite side to be opened and vice versa,

without afi'ecting the other shutters.

This forms a wind-mill like device, and a horizontal turning movementuis thus .im-

parted to the helicopter to one side or the other, since the afiected shutters are disposed this bar on opposite sides of its 1 on opposite sides of thelongitudinal center line of the helicopter.

Banking orsidewise tilting of the helicopter is also controlled from the stick in the following manner: Pivoted in the frame portions 22 on trunnions 35 which extend 1ongitudinally of the airplane, are a plurality of shutters 36, which are disposed in the corresponding openings 22a. and are arranged when lying horizontally to completely close said openings. The shutters on both sides are normally all vertically disposed (and open) at the same time. Horns 37 are secured tothe trunnions 35 of all these shutters, separate cables 38 being connected in common to all the horns of the shutters onopposite sides, and extend thence-laterally to connections ith the lower end ofthe stick on opposite sides of the same, said cables passing over suitable arranged direction changing pulleys 39. These pulleys, just as mentioned in connection with the pulleys P, are shown diagrammatically rather than in their actual relation to the perspective parts. By means of the above arrangement it will be seen that only one set of shutters is alfected at a time by the sidewise swinging of the stick, and

such movement of the stick does not affect the.

front and rear shutters 23 and 24 unless an additional longitudinal swinging movement is imparted to the stick.

When the desired flying altitudehas been attained the front and rear shutters are set by proper manipulation of the stick so that--- the wings or propellers are forwardly inclined, and the body is substantially horizontal. The helicopter would then pro ress like a glider, tendency to loss of altitude owever being taken care of by the ascending action imparted to the machine by the rotating propellers or air screws. The various shutters are always disposed on edge to the direction of longitudinal travel and most of them are normally on edge to a vertical direction of movement. This arrangement offers a minimum of resistance to the movement of the helicopter and of course tends to cause the shutters to remain in such positions due to the action of the horizontal or vertical air currents thereon. I

It is to be noted that the control cables, from the stick to both the side and end shut- 4 ters, are arranged so that only one set of side or end shutters is moved at a time, the air pressure normally holding the other shutters open even'though the corresponding cables are slack.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification setsforth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the s irit of the invention, as defined by the appen ed claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a helicopter having a body, a tubular post projecting upwardly therefrom and rigid therewith, a supporting propeller turnably mounted on the post, and an engine ing a vertical slot, a member rigid with the collar and projecting through the slot to the interior of the post, an operating rod connected to and depending from said member to the interior of the body whereby the vertical movement of the collar may be con trolled, a ring turnable on the collar, and connections between said ring and the adjustable engine part to adjust the latter with the vertical movement of the collar and ring.

21 In a flying machine, a body, a horizontal frame rigid with and projecting outward ly from the body and provided with front and rear openings disposed in a horizontal plane beyond the ends of the body, pairs of shutters pivoted on the frames within said openings on axes longitudinally of the airplane, the shutters in both openings being both normally vertical and open, and manually operable to move either pair of shutters to a closed position.

3. A structure as in claim 2, manually setting of taneously with separate operable means for adjusting the opposite ones of the shutters simulwithout aifecting the remaining shutters and without affecting the first named I manually operable means.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CLIFFORD KIBBE. 

